The Chains of Prophecy
by Ramav
Summary: Set five years after the End of Evangelion, the lives of Shinji and Asuka are thrown into chaos once again, when new forces, linked inseperably with thier past, threaten everything they once fought to protect.


Paris in autumn. Fallen leaves rustle down ancient streets, lined with new cars. Old buildings and new glass shine in the late afternoon sun. In a very upscale part of town, a small, desiccated old man slinked out of the door of his town house. He was greeted by two large bodyguards, who escorted him to a waiting black Mercedes. He slid into the leather seat in the rear of the car, followed by the two, black suited guards. Once inside, he rapped on the glass partition separating the passenger compartment from the driver, and the car glided out.   
The sun had slunk down below the city skyline, bathing the streets in the shadow of dusk. Traffic was heavier than usual. The Mercedes driver cursed softly to himself as traffic brought the sleek car to a stop. The driver knew that his employer did not approve of being late to his meetings for any reason, and he had the nasty habit of blaming road conditions on the person behind the wheel. Cursing to himself again, the driver leaned on the horn.  
Finally the cars in front began to move again, and the driver breathed a sigh of relief. Glancing in the rear view mirror, to make sure the old man was not fuming, he stepped on the gas, only to nearly strike a pedestrian. A tall man, missing his right arm to the elbow, and dressed mostly in rags, was standing mere inches from the front of the car. The driver honked the horn, and screamed, "GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE ROAD, YOU FUCKING BUM!!!!" The man simply stared back at him with a twisted little smile.  
In the back of the car, the old man lowered the glass partition. "Why in God's name are we still stopped?" he asked, angrily.  
"I'm sorry sir, but there is a man standing in front of the car," the driver responded quickly. The old man leaned forward to get a glimpse of the man delaying his travel. He studied the bum for a moment, as if something about him seemed familiar. Suddenly his eyes shot wide with fear.  
"It can't be..." he muttered softly to himself, shocked, "It can't..." Outside the car, the man in rags placed his left hand gently on the car hood. "DRIVE!!!!! DRIVE!!!!" the old man shouted. The driver began to move his foot from the brake to the gas, but before he could depress the pedal the car crumpled. It was as if the car had been hit by a freight train. The windshield exploded inward peppering the riders with broken glass, just as the entire car, now bent and broken, hurtled end over end, before landing upside down on the sidewalk. The entire passenger compartment had crumbled in upon itself. The destroyed Mercedes lay upside down on the sidewalk, dripping oil, gas, and blood. As if nothing had happened, the man in rags walked away.  
  
Commander Fuyutsuki sat peacefully in his office in the headquarters of Nerv. A sedate classical piece wafted from his office speakers. His aging hands picked up a thick bundle of papers from his very large desk. He skimmed the first couple of pages. The report stated that the newly rebuilt Tokyo-3 would be 86% combat ready by the end of the week, and 92% by early November. He sighed deeply and placed the report back on the desk.  
"It's been five years," he thought to himself, "Five years since the last angel was destroyed. Five years since the Japanese government and Seele attacked us. Five years since third impact..." His train of thought was derailed by his office intercom.  
"Sir, I have the analyses you wanted." The image of Dr. Maya Ibuki appeared on a holographic screen on the Commander's desk.  
"It's open, Maya." The door at the far end of the long, barren office slid open, and Dr. Ibuki entered. In her slender hands, she carried a pair of manila folders, stuffed with computer printouts. Her boyish haircut bounced ever so slightly as she strode confidently towards him.   
"Good afternoon Dr. Ibuki," he greeted her amiably. Maya's skill and abilities had won Fuyutsuki's respect, even back before he was Commander but over the last five years, since Dr. Akagi's death, she had proved herself a more than competent replacement.   
"Good afternoon, sir. The Magi just finished their analyses. I have their reports right here." Maya gestured to the manila folders. Fuyutsuki pressed a button on the desk's control panel. On one of the screens the image of Vice Commander and Operations Director Makoto Hyuga appeared.   
"Hyuga, could you report to my office?"  
"Yes sir!" his image vanished, leaving only a gray panel reading "Sound Only". A moment later the office door slid open, and Hyuga entered, adjusting his glasses. He stood next to Maya, across from the Commander.  
"Alright, Dr. Ibuki, what have you to report?"  
"First, sir," she opened one of the folders, "The magi compared the data from the Paris automobile wreck to the data collected from the jet-copters destroyed by the Second Child during the battle five years ago. They are 94.65% certain that the car was destroyed by the same means as the jet-copters." "By an A.T. Field." "Yes sir. The Magi were unable to hypothesize the source of the field though. However, the fact that all the angels have been destroyed seems to contradict this analysis. The Magi have been put into diagnostic mode, and a second analysis will be conducted afterwards." Fuyutsuki nodded. "Secondly," Maya continued, "the Magi concluded their analysis of the newly found fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls." She handed the report to him. "As you can see, the suspicions created by the other fragments seem to be substantiated by this new information." Fuyutsuki scanned the report.  
"So the reasons for keeping Nerv around are validated..." he said, mostly to himself.   
"It seems so sir. We also seem to have been correct in the steps we've taken concerning the Evas."   
"Speaking of that, do you think we should contact the Sixth Child?" Hyuga asked.  
"Not yet," Fuyutsuki answered, "we have no guarantee the operation will go as planned. If something goes wrong there's really no sense in getting the Sixth Child." He paused for a moment. "You know, "he mused, "I suppose we'll have to revise our terminology now. They're hardly children anymore..."  
  
The Third Child, Shinji Ikari, sat bored in class, again. He had been easily distracted the last few weeks. Since Asuka left, his classes at Tokyo-3 University hadn't been able to hold his attention. It got even worse every time he looked out the windows at the newly rebuilt city. He found himself staring aimlessly out the classroom windows, while his mind wandered in and out of old memories. As his teacher droned on about the philosophy of computers and the human brain, Shinji's mind was elsewhere. It was a cool evening, following a very hot day. Shinji was sitting in a plastic deck chair on the balcony of Misato's apartment. Even though she had been dead for two years he still refused to think of the apartment as anything but hers. As darkness spread across the valley that once was Tokyo-3, he sat, listening to his SDAT Walkman, and watching the stars wink into view one by one. Over the music playing through his headphones, Shinji heard the sliding glass door open behind him. Glancing back, he saw Asuka Langley Soryu, his housemate, friend (most of the time) and possibly more, standing in the doorway. The light pouring out of the living room silhouetted her attractive figure. "Mind if I join you, Shinji?" she asked. Her polite and non-confrontational tone seemed so different from normal. Shinji was left speechless. "Uhhhh... s-sure..." he finally managed to stammer. She stepped out onto the balcony and slipped into the other deck chair. She was dressed in a short black skirt and a tight red top. Shinji watched her out of the corner of his eye, his pulse slightly quickening. They sat for a moment in complete silence, both starring out at the night sky. Shinji was somewhat unsettled by Asuka's silence. Usually when she was acting nice, it was a prelude to a snotty comment, or a barrage of teasing. She hadn't been so bad since Misato died, leaving just her and Shinji in the apartment, but her silence that night was simply disquieting. "Ummmm, Asuka, is everything alright?" "Shinji... there's something I want to talk to you about." Her voice was still strangely non-confrontational. In fact, it almost sounded bleak. "What is it?" Worry began to creep into his voice. There was a heavy pause. "I'll tell you later..."she got up and stood at the balcony railing. "The construction sure is beautiful at night isn't it?" Bringing his gaze down from the stars to the gaping hole that was Tokyo-3, Shinji couldn't help but agree. He could see hundreds of twinkling lights, the lights from the welding torches of the night crews working on repairing the Geofront. He sat silently, staring at the flickering stars, and Asuka, still illuminated by the apartment lights. She was right; it was beautiful. "MR. IKARI!!!!" Shinji's reminiscence was cut short by his irate professor. "I'm lecturing here in the front of the class, Mr. Ikari, not out the window." There were a few scattered giggles from the class. "So if you'll please direct your attention back to the front, I'll continue."  
Embarrassed and blushing, Shinji tore his eyes away from the city skyline. "I haven't thought of that night in a while," he thought to himself, still unable to concentrate. He called up a mail program on his classroom laptop, and began to type. "Dear Asuka..."  
  
"How is everything in Germany? I hope everything is still good. It is far too quiet around here with you gone. Other than that, everything is fine. I hope you'll be back in Japan soon, even if it's just for a visit, because I miss you." In her office in the German 3rd Nerv branch, Asuka paused as she read Shinji's e-mail. "Because I miss you" The words took her by surprise. Shinji had changed so much. Ever since that day five years ago on the shore of that barren sea, where Shinji had found her, Asuka had noticed changes in him. He was so much more confident now, and self assured. He expressed himself much more than before, and didn't seem quite as afraid of being rejected by other. "Honestly" Asuka though to herself, "I kinda like it." "Then why did you run away?" Tearing her thoughts away from that, she continued reading his mail. "And I think all the old 'gang' misses you too. Even Toji and Kensuke. Speaking of Kensuke, he told me that he made Lieutenant in the JSSDF. He is really climbing the ladder there. "Well, I need to go, but I'll call you soon, and we can talk. I hope everything you're working on turns out well. I'll see you later.  
Shinji Ikari"  
  
"He never ends his letters with 'love'," Asuka thought to herself. "What a wimp! He may have more confidence, but some things never change!"  
"Maybe he just can't express himself to you..."  
"That doesn't make sense. Shinji is just a weak willed little boy. He always has been, and probably always will be."  
"Are you sure? What about what you said to him that night?"  
"Shut up," Asuka muttered to herself, trying to silence the traitorous thoughts in her head. Grabbing her uniform jacket, she stood up, and left the office, leaving Shinji's mail open on her computer screen.  
  
"Commander Fuyutsuki," the intercom on the Commander's desk paged softly. He pressed the button, and a holographic image of Vice Commander Hyuga appeared.  
"Go ahead."  
"Sir, we've just received word from Berlin. The 3rd branch reports they've been able to create a Dirac sea, with only a .00342 percent margin of error; well within the predicted acceptable safe levels.'  
"Good. Inform them that they have the go ahead to commence the operation."  
"Yes sir." Hyuga stated to go.  
"Oh, Hyuga?"  
"Sir?"  
"Tell Asuka, good luck."  
  
Asuka sat on a bench in the cold, empty locker room, slipping on her plugsuit. A shiver ran through her body as she depressed the wrist button, making the suit skintight. Fighting the angels never worried her his much. Then again, Nerv had a lot more information about the angels. What she was preparing to do was nearly completely unknown, and therefore so much more dangerous. Dr. Ibuki's theories and percentages aside, no one really knew what to expect, and that was what worried Asuka.   
She sat completely still for a long moment. Finally, she slid a cell phone out of her bag, and dialed a number. Over the speaker the phone rang softly. Finally, it was answered by a loud click, the answering machine.  
"Hi, this is Asuka!" her voice greeted her.  
"And Shinji!" We sound so happy, Asuka found herself thinking.  
"And we're not here now!" they both said in unison. "Leave a message, and we'll get right back to you you!" the last word was said twice. They had gotten out of sync.   
"Shinji!" Her voice on the message was angry, "You screwed up the message!!! Now we have to do it all over again!"  
"Shut up Asuka. No one will care if...*Beep*" His voice sounded so light. He had changed so much. She took a deep breath, the butterflies in her stomach growing stronger, and started speaking.  
  
The sun had dropped below the horizon, but the sky was still aflame. Exhausted, Shinji shifted a grocery bag into his left hand while he fumbled for his keys with his right. The apartment door slid open with a whoosh.   
"I'm home." He called. Pen Pen, the warm-water penguin, waddled out of the kitchen to greet him, or more appropriately, to rummage through the food that had just bought. Dropping his heavy book-bag in his room, Shinji flopped onto the bed. He lay there for a while, just letting the day drain out of him. Classes had seemed especially long and tedious, and he couldn't seem to focus, except on Asuka. No matter how hard he had tried to think of other things, the whole day his thoughts kept returning to her. He sighed lightly. He hadn't missed her this much in a while.   
His silence was broken by a squawk from the kitchen.  
"Okay, Pen Pen. I'm coming." He called, rolling off the bed, and making his way to the kitchen. "Alright. What do you want for dinner tonight?" In response, Pen Pen pointed one of his little claws at a package of instant ramen. They had all hated instant foods back when Misato lived with them, but now that she was gone Shinji found himself buying the same things. There was just something familiar in their taste.  
"Instant Noodle it is." Shinji said, scooping up the packet and heading for the stove. On his way there, he stopped. The light on the answering machine was flashing. He pressed the button.  
  
Settling into the entry plug of Evangelion Unit Two, Asuka felt a little foolish. I can't believe I was worried, she thought to herself. "As long as mother is with me, I can do anything," she said softly, as LCL began filling the plug. Once the plug was filled, she pressed the trigger button on the right control handle. There was a comforting familiarity in the Eva's activation sequence. During the three years when Unit Two was being rebuilt, she had missed being in the entry plug, being connected to the Eva, so badly. Now, she couldn't help but smile, the fear gone.   
"Evangelion Unit Two, ready!" 


End file.
